It sounds like we are getting closer to the criterion of full and
prior cost accounting in automated stone work.

We went a few rounds on this CAD/CAM subject about a year ago on
Orchid as I recall. I forget who posted the comment about someone he
knew who had spent a large sum (80K?) and still had not been able to
cut or carve one piece.

So far an important lesson of Orchid which I have been taught as a
neophyte in this business is that JEWELS ARE HONEST… and so are the
vast majority of jewellers. Stones never lied to or cheated or stole
from anyone. I will put in a plug for Michael Hill jewellers (I have
no vested interest). In their ads they tell you all sorts of details
about how their stones get to the market. They do not seem to leave
out anything important about synthetic stones and related matters.

But what can happen is that an honest jeweller can easily be taken
for a ride by a dishonest automation company.

When the customer buys a box of nuts and bolts, what then? The
jeweller who spent 80K and got nothing but a useless machine may have
spent the savings of many years of hard work at the bench and in
effect been hoodwinked by the high tech people.